While the trend has been tighter control on content released for console games …

Sony had one of the better press conferences at this year's E3: they focused on the games, played to their own strengths, and had many surprising announcements about their hardware. We expected a new PSP, but one of the announcements caught us off guard: Sony would have an exclusive port of Unreal Tournament III until 2008, when the game goes to the 360. If you'd like to play Unreal Tournament III on a console in 2007, it's PS3 or bust. Even more shocking? User-created maps, skins, and mods from the PC version will be able to run on the PS3. The engine will even be optimized to run on the PS3, a move that will make it easier for every developer licensing Unreal Engine 3 to get better results from Sony's hardware. So how much did Sony have to pay for this coup?

When we were able to sit down with Adam Hanson, executive producer of Midway Games, the "open" aspect of the PS3 becomes a key point in bringing user-created content to the game. Hanson gets visibly excited when asked about the about the ability to add content to the PS3 release.

"What other game does that? You make something using the editor on the PC, slap it onto a memory stick, and bring it over to the PS3. We're looking at other transmission methods through the web, but right now you can physically put it on the PS3," he told us. So Sony has no say in what content you can and can't bring over to the PS3; anything that's available online could be brought directly to the PS3 version on a memory card, bypassing Sony's own online store.

While Microsoft is notorious for exercising a death grip on what you can and can't offer on Xbox Live (and, of course, they'd much rather sell you content than give it away), Sony's ability to offer unlimited new content for free is a wasted opportunity to make money but an absolutely fantastic selling point for gamers. This ability to get free content to the gamer and then import it onto the PS3 without having to use Sony's network may be what Rein was referring to when he called the PS3 an "open-source platform." What kind of content? Anything. "You can use this great, you know, Halo map that you've copied over," Hanson told us.

It's unclear what other methods of delivery there will be for user-created mods, maps, and skins, and it's unclear if you'll be able to use the PlayStation Network to upload your content or if you'll have to rely on the PC community. "We're researching to see what works, what doesn't," we're told. "I'm sure people will be posting their levels online, and we'd love an official way to download those through the interface, but that's something we'll talk about closer to launch." Hanson is also unsure of what will happen if you try to connect to a game running new content. "We'll have to see how that plays out; it could be you'll have to have the content on every machine to play it, it could be we'll be able to stream it to them."

This is hitting Microsoft where it hurts. Unreal Tournament III on the PS3 will have an unlimited stream of free, high-quality content, and since you can use any new map or skin without having to download it through Sony's servers, you'll have incredible control and freedom when it comes to what you'll be able to add to the game. "Our community is an absolutely essential part of what we do," Hanson says, and Sony's willingness to harness that community may make the PlayStation 3 version the premier Unreal Tournament III console experience.